Hervé L. Leroux, the French designer who outfitted countless celebrities in the ‘90s and early 2000s with his signature bandage dresses under the name Hervé Léger, has died unexpectedly at the age of 60, WWD reports.
Before his dresses became the go-to for the club scene, worn by everyone from Kim Kardashian and Lindsay Lohan to Victoria Beckham and Katy Perry, Léger worked at Fendi and Chanel with Karl Lagerfeld; Lagerfeld is reportedly the one who suggested he change his professional name from Leroux to Léger, suggesting it would be easier for an American consumer to digest.
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In 1985, Léger went on to found his own ready-to-wear label, where his specialty was fancy evening gowns that showed off the wearer’s shape. “If you had a banging body, you wore Hervé Léger or Alaïa,” designer Alexis Mabille told WWD, noting that his runway shows featured everyone from Cindy Crawford to Carla Bruni.
When he lost commercial use of his name in 1999, Léger sold his brand to BCBG Max Azria; eight years later, designer Max Azria relaunched the label under his own vision. Léger, however, continued, to work in his shop on the Left Bank of Paris, where he dressed the likes of Cate Blanchett, Kristen Stewart, and Dita Von Teese — the latter paid a sweet tribute to the designer and their time together on her Instagram.
“I’ll always treasure my afternoons in his atelier just next to @maisonladuree, trying on dress after dress, really just for the fun of it. Hervé would exclaim “THIS dress, this dress is for YOU!” ...and occasionally, “...non, not this one. NEXT!!” We would have the best time, I honestly could have only ever worn his dresses,” she wrote, captioning a photo of Léger.
She continued: “I loved him for his wit, his candor, his sublime elegance and of course, his talent, which, came from authentic obsession, with no care for the commerciality of fashion. I’m so sad to see him go, and so abruptly. We’ve lost one of the fashion greats. My heart breaks for his constant companion, our dear Jocelyn @hervelegersister Thank you, Dear Hervé, for all of it. Rest in glamour, you’ll never be forgotten.”